Morgan Wheatly

A Saturday afternoon storm system produced tornadic active that tore across part of Donley County.

The storm was first warned by National Weather Service in Amarillo as it entered in to the county near Brice. When emergency personnel spotted rotation, storm sirens were sounded in Clarendon, Howardwick, and Hedley as the system approached.

The NWS reported this week that three separate tornadoes occurred Saturday afternoon with the first being an EF-1 just south of US 287 between Lelia Lake and Hedley about 2:20 p.m. and lasting for 18 minutes as it tracked northeast.

A second EF-1 tornado occurred at 2:40 p.m. and continued for 27 minutes, continuing the northeast track into Collingsworth County. The third tornado was an EF-0 that occurred west of Shamrock and was on the ground for about 11 minutes.

Clarendon Fire Chief Jeremy Powell said property damage from the storm was first reported on County Road U between CR 21 and CR 22 where there was significant damage to large trees being uprooted or broken off, includin trees in excess of two feet in diameter.

One home’s roof was damaged and lost decking. A large barn was gone, and metal roofing was removed from others. Power lines were also downed.

As the storm went over FM 1932 it blew away a carport and took down more power lines. An outbuilding was pulled up and blown away, and a small tree was damaged.

At CR 25, a large barn suffered significant damage, and a small outbuilding was blown away. Power lines were downed, and large trees with diameters bigger than three feet were uprooted.

At FM 273, a home was damaged by hail, and high winds, and large tree branches were broken and trees uprooted.

As the storm moved out of the county near CR P and into Collingsworth County, there was large hail damage to a home with windows being broken, a large tree was blown over, and a large limb was blown from a tree.

Powell said hail damage was reported over a large portion of the county with the largest hail being near the path of the tornado. Hail was noted to exceed 2.5 inches in diameter in this area.

Rain reports were noted to be as little as a few tenths to over two inches in places across the county.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Office reminds citizens that storm sirens are blown when there is an immediate threat and that citizens should take cover immediately and stay there until the sirens are silenced. Do not call the sheriff’s office to inquire about the sirens.

 

Rain or shine the show will go on Saturday as the third annual Mulkey Block Party heralds the start of Memorial Day weekend.

Party organizers are keeping an eye on the forecast but say they intend to keep the party going unless weather becomes dangerous.

The 100 block of Kearney Street will be closed starting Saturday morning as work begins to set up the stage and other amenities for the party.

The fun begins at 6 p.m. as Steve Hall and Jesse Lincycomb of Howardwick provide the opening musical entertainment before Amarillo’s “Insufficient Funds” takes the stage for the evening. It will be a night of dancing, kids’ games, and food and vendor booths.

A $5 donation at the theatre door will get a wristband good for popcorn and drinks and allow folks to come-and-go throughout the evening. Cartoons will be showing inside the Mulkey with a temporary screen and projector sponsored by The Clarendon Enterprise and the Hitchin’ Post.

A live auction will also be held during the night, and several very nice items have been donated to the Mulkey cause, including four tickets and parking pass to a Texas Rangers game, handmade jewelry, two six-month gym memberships, a $700 reverse osmosis water filtration system, and more.

Food booths run the gamut of everything from baked goods to fajita-on-a-stick to homemade ice cream.

The Herring Bank car and motorcycle show will be held again on the bank’s parking lot, and all year models are welcome.

For more information, contact the Visitor Center at 806-874-2421.

 

Clarendon High School announced this week that Abigail Johnson and Montana Hysinger are the top honor students of the Class of 2015.

Both Johnson and Hysinger will be recognized during graduation exercises next Friday, May 29, at 8 p.m. in the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center at Clarendon College.

Johnson, with a weighted GPA of 5.71, is this year’s valedictorian and is the daughter of Scotty and Tina Ferris.

Abby has excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities while attending CHS. Abby has been a cheerleader for four years serving as a cheer captain, a member of the Bronco Band for four years serving on the band council, and a member of the student council for the years serving as secretary. Abby has been a member and leader in the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes for two years.

She is a member of the National Honor Society, has run cross country for four years and was a state qualifier, and has run track for four years where she has also been a state qualifier. Abby has also been involved in UIL Academics for 4 years where she has been a regional qualifier in spelling. She has also been on annual staff for two years.

Abby has been chosen Lions Club Sweetheart and Donley County Young Woman of the Year for Clarendon. She has also been named the Fighting Heart award winner in girl’s athletics.

Abby has also been active in giving back to her community and those around her. She has been a participant in the MS Walk, has served veterans in the CISD veteran’s dinner, and has made Christmas cards for the local convalescent center. Abby has been active in the Student Council’s recycling program. She has helped raise money for a local cancer survivor and has sold homemade fruit rollups to support the Senior Citizen Center.

Abby plans on attending Clarendon College to begin her studies in physical therapy.

This year’s salutatorian is Montana Hysinger with a weighted GPA of 5.42. He is the son of Monty and Melody Hysinger

Montana has served as the stage manager for the Clarendon High School theatre department. He is a member of the National Honor Society and has served as the class president for three years. He has been a member of the Bronco football team for four years where he was named all district offensive and defensive lineman. He has been a member of the track team for three years and advanced to area in the shot put. He has also been involved with the robotics group in building a drone and designing a video game.

Montana is a member of the honor roll and National Honor Society and has been involved in community service by spending time in Dallas working with underprivileged kids.

Montana will attend West Texas A&M University where he will be begin his studies in business.

 

The owner of the old Neece house at Sixth and Bugbee told the Clarendon City Council last week that setbacks are keeping her from making progress on code violations.

More than six months ago, the city was beginning the condemnation process on the property but later granted Linda Lewis six months to rectify code concerns.

With time running out, Lewis signed in for public comment at the May 14 regular city meeting and said an infestation of bees and rainy weather were “a series of interesting things” that had stalled progress on the property.

Lewis said there had not been seven consecutive days without rain and that the country road she must travel down to dispose of debris from the house has been impassible because of the rain.

Lewis’ deadline to satisfy the code department was May 18, but she told city officials last week that she’s looking at the end of June to be able to finish.

The Lewis property wasn’t a specific agenda item last week, so the council did not address her directly. But Alderman Sandy Skelton pulled the Code Compliance Report from the city’s consent agenda in order to comment on the property.

“I’m getting frustrated with the whole thing,” Skelton said. “The debris has been there for three months, and it just started raining.”

City officials say Lewis’ property will be on the May 28 agenda.

In other city business, the board approved contracting with KSA Engineers to complete the city’s wastewater permit renewal application and to complete a preliminary engineering report for a possible USDA grant application.

The council heard a quarterly report for Greenbelt Water Authority from Clarendon representative Gary Campbell, who reminded the board that it is time to renegotiate the rate for which the city sells groundwater to Greenbelt.

The council also heard a quarterly investment report from City Secretary Machiel Covey, a quarterly Hotel Occupancy Tax expenditure report from the Clarendon Economic Development Corp., and also a quarterly Hotel Occupancy Tax expenditure report from the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce.

City Administrator David Dockery reported that the citywide cleanup was progressing and seeing a great response. He also said that, due to the weather, the cleanup and the half-price dumping fees will be continued through this Friday, May 22.

 

Clarendon’s sales tax revenue dropped for the third straight month when Texas Comptroller Glen Hegar released April allocations last week.

City sales tax figures slid 7.24 percent compared to one year ago, coming in at $36,571.80 compared to $39,429.81 for the same period one year ago.

The calendar year-to-date total has now slipped 1.20 percent to $159,219.56.

Howardwick’s sales tax revenue also continued sliding, falling 13.53 percent for the month to $1,118.01 and down 6.78 percent for the year at $5,480.43.

Hedley was up 20.56 percent this month with an allocation of $1,011.22 compared to $838.71 last year, but that city is still behind 15.64 percent for the year at $3,016.81.

A look at surrounding communities show a mixed bag of sales tax income figures for this month with Wellington down 13.13 percent, Childress up 12.56 percent, Memphis up 8.33 percent, Claude down 5.75 percent, and Shamrock down 10.21 percent. Amarillo was up 5.51 percent, and Pampa was down 13.63 percent.

Statewide, Hegar said sales tax revenue was $2.3 billion, up 1.1 percent compared to April 2014.

“As we predicted in January, state revenues have grown at a moderate pace. April is the second consecutive month of relatively slow growth in sales tax revenue, and I remain cautiously optimistic about our economic progress,” Hegar said. “Growth in total sales tax revenues collected this month was muted by the significant slowdown in the oil and gas mining sector; however, collections from other major economic sectors – including retail and wholesale trade, restaurants, construction, and manufacturing – continued to grow. This marks the 61st consecutive month of growth in sales tax collections.”

The sales tax figures represent monthly sales made in March as well as January, February and March sales by businesses that report tax quarterly.

 

Kati Adams and Kortney Burton have been named the Hedley High School valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2015.

Both girls will be recognized during commencement exercises at the HHS Gymnasium on Saturday, May 30, at 10 a.m.

Adams as a high school average of 98.761 and is the daughter of Lon and Nicki Adams. She has been very active in FFA, showing pigs and steers, and judging livestock. She has been Hedley FFA Chapter president, class president, and the president of the NHS.

Kati has also been a member of the basketball team where she received all-district honors all four years, ran cross country and advanced to regionals her junior and senior years, and played tennis where she advanced to regionals four years in a row and advanced to state her senior year.

Kati will attend Clarendon College where she will be a member of the livestock judging team and will major in agribusiness.

Burton has an average of 98.375 and is the daughter of Blain and Tanya Burton. She has attended Hedley ISD since the second grade. She has held the Treasurer position of her class for one year and Vice President for three years. She has held the Secretary position of the National Honor Society for one year and the Vice President position for two years.

Kortney was active in basketball all four years of high school, where she received all district honors, and tennis for one year. She is ranked second in her graduating class. She was Hedley’s Homecoming Queen in 2014 and Lions Club Sweetheart in 2014. She was named Young Woman of the Year from Hedley High School in 2014 by the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce.

Kortney and her service dog, CorKey, will be attending Clarendon College starting in the fall of 2015 and will pursue a degree in business.

Hedley Junior High’s top students this year are Kasie Hinton with a 93.812 grade average and McKay Shelp with an average of 92.187. They will be recognized during Hedley’s eighth grade graduation next Friday at 9 a.m.

 

Donley County Commissioners discussed upcoming improvements and activities on the Courthouse Square when they met in regular session Monday, May 11.

The Courthouse Lighting Committee reported that the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation had approved a request to provide $5,000 for electrical improvements and additional lighting for the holiday season. Most of that money will go towards adding new outlets to the backs of floodlights on the courthouse lawn that can be used for Christmas lights, July Fourth booths, and other activities.

Judge John Howard said the county will also be purchasing banners promoting the 125th anniversary of the Courthouse and patriotic bunting for the Courthouse arches. New brochures have also been printed for the Courthouse anniversary.

Howard also said the county is pursuing getting a historical marker for the old horse trough on the south side of the square near the Courthouse Annex. The exact age of the trough isn’t known at this time, but it is believed to be one of the only – if not the only – horse troughs on a courthouse square in the state.

In other county business Monday, commissioners approved Deputy County Clerk LaVerne Pinion’s attendance at a state conference, discussed using GovDeals for online auction services for surplus equipment, and approved upgrading the Microsoft Office software on county computers.

The court also renewed the county’s property insurance through the Texas Association of Counties and considered but took no action on adding a paid LifeStar membership as a county employee benefit.

Dr. Matt Halsey was named as the county Rabies Control Authority.